Le cuisine Bretonne.

Mes amis from Paris were in town this weekend and we had a delightful time. For me, the local cuisine is an essential way to get to know a destination. Matt had never been to Brittany before, so it was important to share with him the two most important Breton foods.

We stopped in a quaint small city called Quimper. France has a nationwide contest of sorts, in which cities compete to be a "ville fleur" - flower village, I suppose. Quimper has two flowers out of 4 and really does a nice job with flower boxes along its canal.

We strolled around the town for a bit then sat down for lunch in our favorite creperie. What are the two most typical Breton foods, you ask?

Here you see them both! A boule (bowl) of cider, and a crepe. I love to get my crepes with seafood, and here it's a cave of a crepe filled with St. Jacques (scallops) and lard (bacon). Cider is always served in a little bowl - it feels funny to be drinking a cold beverage out of a mug-like ceramic vessel, but there you go. V asked the three native English speakers in the group about why "scallops" is such a weird word, and we said "Really?? Weirder than St. Jacques?"

In other news, bacon makes everything better, even in France.